China 2024 iron-ore imports hit record on resilient demand, steel exports

The world's largest iron-ore consumer brought in a total of about 1.24-billion metric tons last year, data from the country's General Administration of Customs showed, up 4.9% from 1.18-billion tons in 2023, when it posted an annual increase of 6.6%.

China's iron ore imports are also likely to hit a record high in 2025 as traders stockpile cheap ore for the world's top consumer, despite a protracted property crisis continuing to weigh on domestic steel demand.

Steel output slid by 2.7% from the year before in the first 11 months of 2024 and was on track for an annual decline, but that largely reflected weak output from electric furnace steelmakers, which supply the troubled construction sector and use scrap steel instead of iron ore as a resource.